Sarah* fled a violent relationship, couch surfing or sleeping in her car until there was nowhere to turn but local homeless shelters.

In Fort Worth’s East Lancaster Avenue homeless services corridor, Sarah faced something almost as frightening as the abuse she’d fled: the prospect of sleeping in a barrack-style shelter with hundreds of strangers.

Mornings would be worse. Forced to leave the shelter until afternoon, Sarah would run a gauntlet on the street, alone and afraid.

It’s not hard to see why some women forced to choose between a violent partner and homelessness stay with their abusers.

That would not be Sarah’s story. She escaped her abuser and the streets with help from the DRC Victims Advocacy Project.